How to install themes with GNOME tweak tool?

Question

I have been using the default Ubuntu 11.10 with Unity for some time now and decided to start customizing it.

I have already been able to make some changes with the gnome-tweak-tool. However, there are many themes that I get from gnome-look.org that don't appear in the gnome-tweak-tool even after putting them in the /usr/share/themes folder.

Any idea why this is happening? Thanks.

Solution 1

How to install themes in Ubuntu:

When you download a theme for Ubuntu this come compressed into a .tar.gz file almost always. What you have to do is:

1. Run the terminal Ctrl+Alt+T
2. Enter cd ~ && mkdir .themes
   This command will create a .themes folder in your personal folder. The dot is necessary
3. Enter cp files_path ~/.themes
   Replace files_path with the directory where are your zipped files. This command copy the compressed files into this folder.
4. Enter cd ~/.themes && tar xvzf PACKAGENAME.tar.gz
   Replace PACKAGENAME with the name of the file. This command will unzip the theme file into the new folder.
5. Enter gnome-tweak-tool

Finally will appears the tweak window (similar as the following) and you'll see the themes that you've previously copy in the themes folder and will be able to choice them!

For future themes, omit the second step

Solution 2

I installed a few themes from gnome-look.org

The site uses a special URL scheme. The URL handler comes in a package named ocs-url. Here are the instructions for installing the URL handler on linux-apps.com.

However, the installation method described on this site has an issue: it marks the dependencies as manually installed.

Therefore I recommend the following method instead.

My method will ensure that, when you uninstall ocs-url, its dependencies will be automatically uninstalled as well.

First download the ocs-url Debian package, then (filename and directory name might differ):

cd ~/Downloads
sudo dpkg -i ocs-url_3.1.0-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install --fix-broken

Once this is done, all you have to do is click on install links on gnome-look.org and them click "OK" and the themes will be installed in ~/.themes.

Restart the Tweaks tool and your new themes should be available.

Tested on Debian.

Solution 3

I had the same problem when placing themes in /usr/share/themes. You need to make sure the permissions are set correctly.

Right click on the folder of your theme and select properties, go to the permissions tab and set it like this:

Now go back to gnome tweak tool and your theme should be there. Alternatively, you could create ~/.theme and put your theme in there.

Comments

[Admin]

Have you placed the Themes correctly? i.e. Theme_Name>Gtk 2,3 metacity-1 folders.

[Admin]

i believe so. i used the command cp -rf ThemeName /usr/share/themes

[Admin]

Take a look at the folder, and check the folder structure is correct.

[Admin]

i have confirmed that i am copying the files for the right destination folder. but in /usr/share/themes, i have around 60 folders and on the gnome-tweak-tool i get very little themes

[Admin]

Which themes aren't working?, try moving them to your home folder see if that works.

[Admin]

@nunos - please add links to the themes you have downloaded to confirm that you have been trying to install GTK+3/Gnome-3 compatible themes.

[Admin]

@nunos If you think that my answer has responds to your issue, you can mark it as accepted so this question remains as answered.

[Pratik Saluja]

Do I need to restart only after installing the deb file or each time I have to restart after installing new themes? Btw this works perfectly on my Ubuntu 18.4

[Rolf]

@PratikSaluja Restarting the tweak tool was enough